SMEs asked to comply with highest food safety standards

MANILA, Philippines - As food security becomes increasingly vital, Filipino exporters, especially small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), are encouraged to acquire certification of compliance with world food safety practices to raise their success rates and competitive edge in the global market.

The British Retail Consortium (BRC) Global Standards, one of the biggest providers of food safety and quality standards worldwide, urged local SMEs to prove their commitment to consumer safety by adopting international standards for best practices in food safety.

By doing so, it added, suppliers assure their customers they adhere to the highest standards of safety, quality, and legal compliance.

Global certification will also enable SMEs to demonstrate their competence in applying Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACPP), hygiene, food safety, and quality systems.

Among the benefits of certification is it proves employment of good manufacturing and hygiene practices by having in place a series of plans, programs, and systems for ensuring food safety.

It likewise indicates that a company has a HACCP food safety plan, a process-control system that identifies where hazards might occur in the food production process and puts preventive actions against them.

BRC said its Global Standard for Food Safety Certification is recognized by the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI), a program harmonizing international food safety standards with support from the world’s top retailers and food manufacturers.

With GFSI recognition, the BRC certification can be used by a food supplier to meet the requirements of major buyers under a single, internationally recognized food safety management system.

Recently, BRC announced it will publish the seventh issue of its Global Standard Food Safety this month.

It said Issue 7 reviews emerging issues in the global food industry and focuses on the following key points: ensure consistency of the audit process, provide a standard flexible enough to allow voluntary modules to reduce the audit burden, encourage systems to minimize exposure to fraud, promote greater transparency and traceability in the supply chain, and encourage adoption of the standard in small sites and facilities where processes are still in development.

The issue will be available to members online via BRC Participate, its newly launched web-based platform allowing subscribers 24-hour access to all its global standards, guidelines, and other publications, or in print from the BRC Bookshop.

Audits against Issue 7 are set to begin in July 2015.